Wednesday 22 August 2012

ROW80 Check-in 22nd August 2012

Hello my friends! It felt very strange not checking in on Sunday and not seeing how you were all doing but I had a great time up in Edinburgh. Such a beautiful city and so many comedians and dance acts to see in the Festival. Just brilliant. On the writing front though, not really sure how I am doing!

Here are my goals:
1) Write at least 1,613 words a day on new WIP for CampNaNo.
2) Two ROW80 check-ins a week no matter how short but sweet they are.

3) Read two books a week for 100+ reading challenge (or as much as I can!).
4) Review one book a month.

Lets start at the beginning.
Goal 1 - On Friday I was on target. I had aimed to try and get ahead but didn't really manage it so went away on target. On the train up to Scotland I wrote for a few hours although I had forgotten how slow I was at handwriting. On Sunday and Monday I didn't write. On Tuesday on the train home I wrote again but not as much as Saturday, all the late night and cocktails seemed to catch up with me! Today I haven't written anything new but am in the process of typing up my train writing although my friend had a baby on Sunday so I feel justified spending the afternoon with her and her new baby boy! I am going to aim to type up the rest tonight. At the moment I am at 29,325 words and by the end of today I should be on 35,464 words to be on track for camp. I fear I may be behind!

Tomorrow I will be able to write but am going away with another friend tomorrow afternoon and we are having a spa day on Friday. I am SO excited about this as we have been to the spa before and it has lots of amazing steam rooms and I have a massage booked. After spending seven and a half hours on a train yesterday my back is very knotted and sore so I am very excited about this mini break!! I don't know if I will be able to write on Friday as I will be busy lying around in a bathrobe but I will back on Saturday and back to writing!

Goal 2 - Checking in now and had said last Wednesday I wouldn't be checking in on Sunday so I guess on track with this?

Goal 3 - I read two books - one on the train up and one on the train back amongst writing. I wish I had the stamina to handwrite for seven hours but I didn't and I thought I would use the time to read as well.

Goal 4 - Still needs to be completed. Must put some thought to this.

So that is me. Not slashing through word counts with a sword but plodding along and accepting my failings. I still have hope I will make the 50,000 word count by the end of August and I am trying not to get upset by the inconsistent graph on my campnano graph. I liked it in November when my daily word counts were above the line!!

I hope to get around to check-ins tomorrow morning and I hope everyone is being a bit more consistent with their goals then me.

Before I go, a final random thought. I was away with some friends and the boyfriend of one of my friends in Edinburgh. On Monday he randomly sat at the table with a notebook and was writing. I asked him what he was doing and casual as you like he said 'Just writing some ideas for a story I thought of'. Of course as a secret writer (known as Secret Agent Em to some of my writing buddies) I was intrigued and asked him more about it. He has never really written anything since school, he was just inspired by some work he recently did with a child he works with and a story idea just came to him so he thought he would give it a go. I told him about Campnano and this is a big deal for me as only my family and a couple of friends know I am writing and only one friend knows about my blog. I just felt stunned at the ease with which he told me about what he was doing as we don't know each other well. He was so confident like it was no big deal that he was choosing to spend his time doing this. It just got me thinking about how scared and nervous I am to tell people I write. Why? Why was he confident about it and I feel like a cliche to mention that I want to be a writer? I have no insightful answers to round off with but I wanted to mention it as it made me really question my fear. What am I afraid of?

6 comments:

  1. Well Secret Agent M, this is what we've been trying to tell you :D It's part of who you are and anyone that knows you should be happy to know it's what you like to do! You have nothing to be afraid of, and you can share as much or as little as you like whenever you get around to feeling like it lol.

    I'm glad you had such a good time in Edinburgh! And I think you should be quite proud of yourself for getting in 2 books and lots of handwriting. You did as much as you could, and that's kind of the whole point!

    I know what you mean about that darn graph. I just keep telling myself that this is an extra one that we just threw in, so do the best I can which will be more words than if I hadn't tried. I will be more psychotic in November and make a perty graph then.

    Will see you in the morning for...what is an early morning camp activity?? Ah well, I will see you then!

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  2. You know the difference between you and him? Probably the only thing is that you're not the first person he's told, he's probably told more and more people, and it gets much easier as you do.
    When I first started writing I was like you, my boyfriend and mum knew, but when I told my housemate (who happened to be my best friend!) she was really negative, so adding that to my shyness about the whole thing, I didn't tell anyone else for ages.
    Eventually I started telling people, and it was hard. But then I started telling more and more people, and one day I started telling them with ease and confidence.
    Once day, when you're ready to start telling people, it will be hard, but you'll do it, and then more and more, and one day you'll be like him and me! I promise!
    And now after that essay ;-)

    You are doing well. You're on holiday so deserve to relax, so if you miss some words here and then, don't beat yourself up about it. In NaNo you were ahead most of the time because you wrote A LOT at the beginning, this time you're just mixing it up - you'll write A LOT at the end!
    Good luck with the rest of the week - and have fun at the spa (Jealous, me?!)

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  3. Becoming comfortable with who you are and what you enjoy is a journey. Grab it up with both hands and wring every ounce of joy from it you can! People come and people go in life - what they think may be important to you. Just don't let it be too important.

    Do what you love - and have the best time you can doing so. Never be ashamed to admit you're trying new things - taking new chances. That's living!

    Okay...I've stepped down from my soap-box...*sorry* Lol. Glad you had a wonderful time, and met another writer. Hmm. They're lurking everywhere! Ha.

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  4. My 2 cents: I don't think you need to shout you are a writer from the rooftops. I don't think you need to avoid telling people either. I think it should be a relevance thing. Like if your friend asks what you were doing last night, and you avoid answering... Stop that! Answer proudly. But if you are at a dog park and someone asks your dog's breed- Right?

    Also, don't sweat the numbers (even if that's the challenge's goal). You're moving forward. That's what's important.

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  5. What a refreshing ROW 80 update!

    First of all, good for you for writing every day, which is what a writer does, regardless of word count. Some days, as you know, there will be days that the words just fly onto the page/screen but other days will be much different.

    I will tell you that as you continue to write every day, the nano graphs and word counts diminish in importance and what emerges is important is your writing. Writing every day also gives you the confidence to tell anyone that you wish that you are writer.

    I read through all the comments, and each comment is so thoughtful. I would repeat everything that Nadja says but she writes it so beautifully.

    Continued success as a writer and in ROW 80.

    Karen

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  6. Thank you for your amazing comments everyone! They are greatly appreciated.

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